CSA members will find and immediately smell an herb called lovage in their boxes. Lovage is in the apiaceae or member of the carrot family. It is a perennial plant meaning it can stay in the ground and produce for years. There is much debate about the herb's origins but most people believe it to be from the Mediterranean. The leaves, stems, roots and seeds are all edible. In the UK, a cordial is made with lovage and brandy for a winter drink. In Romania lovage is hung in doorways to ward off evil spirits as well as the herb put in traditional soups.

The name lovage comes from "love-ache" (ache is a medieval name for parsley). Its German name is liebstockel (um lat over the o) which means love stick. The Finnish name translates to preacher's collar because of its widespread cultivation in monasteries.

Enjoy this fragrant, ancient and interesting herb!

Cerinthe

Our cut flowers require different post harvest techniques that keep them looking good in your homes all week long. Some want their stems set in warm water like the dahlia. Others need their seems recut underwater because their stems contain a sap that will clog it's water uptake capabilities like euphorbia.

Cerinthe, which some CSB members will find in their bouquets this week, requires a hot water scalding of the bottom 2 inches of their stems. If not the flower will immediately wilt. Because of this post harvest process please remember if you recut your cerinthe only cut below the browned or scalded part of the stem or heat up to a boil about two inches of water in a pot and place the stems in the water for 30 seconds. Then replace in the vase.

Cerinthe, or the blue shrimp plant, is an annual from the Mediterranean. Bees and other pollinators love it and it was once thought bees harvested their wax from this plant. Its name comes from the Greek word for wax keros and the Greek word for flower anthos.